1988 Lamborghini Countach LP5000 Quattrovalvole

There are few automobiles that can claim to have defined not only a generation of supercars, but the very idea of the exotic car itself. The Lamborghini Countach is one of them. Its Marcello Gandini-penned silhouette remains among the most recognizable shapes ever committed to metal: impossibly low, unapologetically angular, and theatrical in a way only Sant’Agata could produce. By the late 1980s, the Countach had evolved from shocking concept-car fantasy into one of the most desirable road cars in the world, and the LP5000 Quattrovalvole represented one of its most exciting final chapters.

Introduced for 1985, the Quattrovalvole was a meaningful mechanical evolution of the Countach formula. Its legendary V12 was enlarged to 5.2 liters and fitted with four-valve cylinder heads, giving the model its “Quattrovalvole” name and placing it firmly among the most dramatic performance cars of the era. Paired with a gated 5-speed manual transmission, rear-wheel drive, and the unmistakable soundtrack of Lamborghini’s longitudinally mounted twelve-cylinder engine, the LP5000 QV delivered the kind of raw, mechanical theater that has become increasingly rare in the modern supercar world.

This 1988 Lamborghini Countach LP5000 Quattrovalvole is made all the more compelling by its extraordinary presentation in Giallo Fly, a color that suits the Countach perhaps better than nearly any other. Bright, daring, and unmistakably Italian, the shade emphasizes every sharp edge, intake, flare, and surface of the car’s outrageous design. Reported to be one of just nine Countach examples produced in Giallo Fly, this car offers the kind of rarity, presence, and specification that collectors seek when pursuing the very best examples of an icon.

Showing just 10,700 miles, this Countach remains a wonderfully low-mileage example of the late-production Quattrovalvole. Its Giallo Fly exterior is paired with a richly toned Testa di Moro interior, a sophisticated contrast that balances the car’s extroverted bodywork with a warm and elegant cabin. The cockpit is everything a Countach should be: low, intimate, purposeful, and dominated by the sense that the driver is sitting inside one of the great analog machines of the 20th century.

The 1988 model year occupies a particularly interesting place in Countach history, arriving near the end of LP5000 QV production before the introduction of the 25th Anniversary model. These late Quattrovalvole cars retain the essential drama of Gandini’s wedge-shaped design while benefiting from the mechanical development Lamborghini had refined over more than a decade of Countach production.

According to previous listing information, this example was delivered new to Joe Nastasi, the well-known official Lamborghini importer based in New York, in January 1988. The car is further noted as retaining engine number 1514, corresponding with Lamborghini Registry information for chassis JLA12300. A major engine-out service was completed in 2021 by Auto Kremer and included a new clutch, valve cover gaskets, and a set of four tires.

More than three decades after it left Sant’Agata, the Countach remains the poster car made real. It is not merely a collector car, but a cultural object: the shape, the doors, the stance, the sound, and the sense of occasion all working together in a way that few automobiles ever have. Finished in one of the model’s most charismatic colors and showing modest mileage, this 1988 Lamborghini Countach LP5000 Quattrovalvole presents a rare opportunity to acquire a striking late-production example of one of Lamborghini’s most celebrated V12 icons.